LawsRUs wrote:Oh yea, a side note: I would appreciate it if you guys don't call me Laws or LawsRUs IRL. TYIA

Just realized that names might be abbreviated, good thing I didn't pick BearJoe as my username.

Anyways, I am not doing anything substantial over the summer, or at least whats left of it since I am working at a pretty hectic startup overseas. But I am in the process of reading GTM. From what I have read in the threads, I think its better to know what areas of the law your particular professor will pick first before doing anything substantial. Although test prep, like being able to type faster seems to be a good idea. I am also planning on buying the LEEWS thing, and will keep you guys posted on how useful it actually is.

Joebear wrote:Okay so this might sound stupid but is the Procedures course we take in the fall semester Civil Procedures? Or is it some sort of civil/criminal combined thing.

Civil Procedure is deceptive because it's a more important course than it appears to be. It is actually the most difficult core course you have next semester unless you get an appreciably challenging professor in another course. Basically, Civil Procedure will focus on the rules of filing and disputing a law suit in federal court between a Plaintiff (the guy suing) and the Defendant (the guy being sued). There will be an entire rule book with tons of section numbers to memorize (how fun!). The rules of civil procedure are basically the rules of engagement when someone files a law suit based on tort law or contract law or property law - which as it happens are your other courses.This is an important point because it shows that Civ Pro unlike the other core courses is more inter-disciplinary. As Joebear alluded, Criminal law has it's own rules of procedure because criminal law suits are tried in a different court than civil court (i.e. criminal court). Yes, Criminal Procedure will be a class you may or may not elect to take. However, both Criminal Law, in the first year, and later Evidence, usually taken in second semester, are required courses and sometimes referred to as bar courses because they are tested on the bar exam along with the other 1L courses.

By the way, a high grade in Civ Pro is impressive to employer's since as a first year associate a student that shows they are strong in Civ Pro basically demonstrates that they understand one of the most practical and applicable courses to the work you will actually do as a practicing attorney. Not every first year class is as practical.

That's a great question. If I do buy them, I'm planning on buying them after our classes start to see how the professor is teaching and what students who have taken the class recommend. I'll probably end up picking up that CivPro E&E and working mostly from casebooks. I've heard that the order of consideration is (1) if the professor wrote a treatise, (2) if the professor recommends a certain one or don't, (3) if the author of the casebook wrote a supplement, (4) if 2Ls and 3Ls recommend a specific one for that professor, and (5) if you find a general consensus on a class (E&E for Torts and CivPro, Chemerinsky for ConLaw, and so forth). Honestly, I'm concerned about how I can find the time to read casebooks + read supplements + outline + brief + LRWA + .... Ideally, I'd like to skip on the supplements, but realistically, I'll end up buying them because everyone has them. (Not a great reason, obv. .) What is everyone else planning on doing?

That's a great question. If I do buy them, I'm planning on buying them after our classes start to see how the professor is teaching and what students who have taken the class recommend. I'll probably end up picking up that CivPro E&E and working mostly from casebooks. I've heard that the order of consideration is (1) if the professor wrote a treatise, (2) if the professor recommends a certain one or don't, (3) if the author of the casebook wrote a supplement, (4) if 2Ls and 3Ls recommend a specific one for that professor, and (5) if you find a general consensus on a class (E&E for Torts and CivPro, Chemerinsky for ConLaw, and so forth). Honestly, I'm concerned about how I can find the time to read casebooks + read supplements + outline + brief + LRWA + .... Ideally, I'd like to skip on the supplements, but realistically, I'll end up buying them because everyone has them. (Not a great reason, obv. .) What is everyone else planning on doing?

Great point. It is extra reading, but apparently it's a great way to clear up confusion you may have after reading an assigned case.

cwin25 wrote:It looks like class schedules have been posted on our myUSC accounts!

Things are starting to get real now, haha

How did you access your "myUSC" account?

It says I need a USC ID number from my USCard, but I wasn't a USC undergrad and don't have a USCard and I don't think I have a USC ID number (I could be wrong). Do you have access because you attended USC as an undergrad? Or is there a way for me to get a USC ID number now?

Good news: It seems like about 175 students are enrolled in LRWA. Which means--Although they might add more students until the first day of classes, it seems like our class size is going to be less than 200. It's a very good news.

LawsRUs wrote:Good news: It seems like about 175 students are enrolled in LRWA. Which means--Although they might add more students until the first day of classes, it seems like our class size is going to be less than 200. It's a very good news.

LawsRUs wrote:Good news: It seems like about 175 students are enrolled in LRWA. Which means--Although they might add more students until the first day of classes, it seems like our class size is going to be less than 200. It's a very good news.

oohh yayy how do we know this??

If you go to myUSC >> Web Registration >> Fall 2015 >> Law Department, you can see how many people are registered in your classes and even who your professors might be. (tentatively)